Sharp County record., 1887-12-29
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
A Homily on "Too Much Ado About
Small Things"
Ho,vcn Lost Sight of in worrying over
the Trifies of Earth--The Tendency
to Excuse Big Sins and Mag
nifty Little Ones.

Rev. T. Dewitt IallnaSe Vo0N IL,
srhioct of recent sermon in the BrooKlyn II
Tobernacle: "Too Much Ado ADouO
Small Things" preaching from the loi'
lowing text: o+ and
swallow a camel.-Matthew KILL n
The preacher said: A proverb is COM
noct wisdom, knowledge in chunks d
i;brorv in n sentence, the electricity Oh
many clouds discharged at one Doll,
river put through a mlli-race. nHa In
Christ quotes the proVerp Oh VeAV no
means to set forth the ludicrous oenaVlot
of those who make great buster apouS
small sins and have no appreciation apouO
great ones. loroo
ouadrnned are brought into comparison
q gnat and a camel. You have in museums
or on the desert seen the latter, great
awkward, sprawling creature, with DacK
two stories high, and stomach having
collection of reservoirs Tor desert VraVoi'
an animal forbidden to the jews
as food, and in many Ateratures
entitled "the ship of the desert"
Tho gnat spoken OF in the tex
is in the grub form. 1t is born IN poor
or pond, after few weeks becoming
chrysalis, and then, after few days, pe-
comes the gnat as we recognize it. But
the insect spoken of in the text is in its
yery smallest shape, and it yet inhablts
the wa ater-for my text is mlsprin1, anu
ought to read, "strain out gnat."
Nv text shows you the prince of incon'
sistencies A man after long observation
has formed the suspicion that in cup OF
water he is about to drink there is grub
or tho grandparent of gnat. He goes
and gots seive and strainer. He takes
tho water and pours it through the sieve
in the broad light He says: u woula
rather do any thing almost than drink
this water until this larva be extirpated."
This water is brought under inquisition.
Tho experiment is successful. The
water rushes through the sieve and
leaves against the side of the sieve
the grub or gnat Then the man care
fully removes the insect and drinks the
wator in placdity. But, on going out one
day, nnd hungry, he devours ship OF
the DESERT" the camel which the Jews
were forbidden to eat. the gastronomer
has no compunctions Of conscience. lie
puts the lower Jaw under the camePs fore
foot and the upper jaw over the hump OF
the camol's back and gives one swallow,
and the dromedary disappears forever.
He strained at gnat and swallowed
camel.
Whilst Christ's audience were yet smil-
ing at the apposteness and wit of his IL
lustraton-for smile they did in church,
unless they were too stupid to understand
the hyperbole-Christ practically said to
thcm: "That is you" Punctillious about
small things; reckless about affairs of great
magnitude, No subject ever writhed un-
der surss5-ll,a- -knife more bitterly than
did tho Pharsees under Christ's scalpel OF
truth. As an anatomist will take human
body to pieces and put them under
microscope for examination, so Christ
finds his way to the heart Of the dead
Phariscc and cuts it out and puts it under
! the glass of inspection for all generations
to exemne. Those Pharisees thought
that Christ would fiat ter them and COM
plimcnt them, and how they r lst have
writhel under the red.hot words as he said:
Ye fools, ye whited sepulchres ye blind
guides, which strain out gnat and swallow
| camel
There are in our day great many gnats
strained out and q great many camels
swallowed, and it is the object of this SER
mon to sketch few persons who are ex-
tcnsively engaged in that business.
First, rcmark that all those ministers
of the Gospel are photographed in the
text who are very scrupulous about the
conventionaities of religion, but put no
particular stress upon matters Of vast i'm
portance. Church services ought to be
grave and solemn. There is no room for
frvolity in religious convocation. But
thero are illus trations and there are
hyporboles, like that of Christ in the text,
that will irradiate with smiles any in.
tolligent auditory. There are men, like
those blind guides Of the text, who advo-
cato only those things in religious service
which draw the corners of the mouth
down, and denounce all those things
which have tendency to draw the corn
ers Of the mouth up; and these men will
60 to installations and to presbyteries
and to conferences and to associations,
their pockets full Of fine sieves to strain
out the gnats, while in their own churches
at home every Sunday there are fifty
people sound asleep. They make their
churches a great dormitory, and their
soinniferous sermons are q cradle, and the
drawled-out hymns a lullaby, while
some wakeful soul in pew with her fan
keeps the flies off unconscious persons APP
proximate. Now, say it is worse to sleep
in church than to smile in church, for the
latter implies at least attention, while
the former implies the indifference of the
hearers and the stupidity of the speaker.
In old age, or from physical infrmity, or
from long watching with the sick, drows.
mess will sometimes overpower one; but
when minister of the Gospel looks off
upon an audience and finds healthy and
intelligent people struggling with drowsi.
ness, it is time for him to give out the
Doxology or pronounce the benediction.
The great fault Of church services to-day
is not too much v,vacity, but too much
somnolence. The one is an irritating gnat
that may be easily strained out; the other
is a great, sprawling and sleepy-eyed
camel of the dry desert In all our Sab
bath schools, in all our Bible classes, in
all our pulpits we need to brighten up our
religious message with such Christ.lke
vivacty as we find in the text